The Netherlands / Audiospot
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On the 28th of October 1944, Polish soldiers drive unsuspectingly into an ambush as they approach this intersection. It is the first battle for the liberation of Breda. The Germans are in hiding and have concealed a motorised anti-tank weapon in the alley.
On the 28th of October 1944, Allied artillery bombarded the main road intersections in the Ginneken. They did it to impede the Germans from building their defences. Then on the night of the 28th of October, Polish troops from the 1st Polish Armoured Division went on the offensive.
There were several battles in the Ginneken. At the crossroads of the Raadhuisstraat-Bavelselaan, a Polish unit drove into an ambush. German troops including a mobile tracked gun, a Sturmgeschütz, fired on them.
The Poles had to retreat. There then followed an artillery bombardment by the British, Canadians and Poles. This also resulted in many civilian casualties. Another Polish unit liberated the Ginneken the next day.